Hello and thank you for visiting AikiWeb, the
world's most active online Aikido community! This site is home to
over 22,000 aikido practitioners from around the world and covers a
wide range of aikido topics including techniques, philosophy, history,
humor, beginner issues, the marketplace, and more.

If you wish to join in the discussions or use the other advanced
features available, you will need to register first. Registration is
absolutely free and takes only a few minutes to complete so sign up today!

Sweet, I just got my 2 kyu a couple of weeks ago. going for 1kyu in December. Was this your 1st grade? 1st one's always the best, 2 kyu was a pain in the arse, 5 grades in a row, very hard work....Good luck on the next !

Wow. You get to test fairly quickly in your dojo. Does your dojo hold tests often? That makes a big difference (among the many other things like training more hours a week...) Just curious

We go around 30 hours between kyu grades if you have the ability. Obviously sensei would try to dissuade someone if he thought they weren't ready. I feel more than read considering I missed my last 2 kyu grading through injury and other time off. I have to wait another 100 hours before I can do my Dan Grade after the 1 kyu though

This is one thing that has puzzled me about people taking a year or so between kyu grades. Is there a reason why some organisations/clubs/dojos test more sporadically than others?

This is one thing that has puzzled me about people taking a year or so between kyu grades. Is there a reason why some organisations/clubs/dojos test more sporadically than others?

This is a perennial discussion item in the testing forum. The answer to your question, obviously, is "yes" -- otherwise they wouldn't do it. In USAF, "a year or so" would actually be testing at a pretty brisk pace after the first couple, and 2nd kyu to 1st kyu is 300 practice days and two seminars per year.

This is a perennial discussion item in the testing forum. The answer to your question, obviously, is "yes" -- otherwise they wouldn't do it. In USAF, "a year or so" would actually be testing at a pretty brisk pace after the first couple, and 2nd kyu to 1st kyu is 300 practice days and two seminars per year.

Wow, that's quite some time. Do you train to syllabus as well. I'm not even sure the larger organisations over here train to that extent from 1 grade to the next.

We don't train to any syllabus per sť however we cover everything so it means anyone coming in to the class could be training on Dan grade stuff or we could all be going through basic techniques. It means that some of the lower grades are pretty advanced for their level which has been picked up on during seminars.

We go around 30 hours between kyu grades if you have the ability. Obviously sensei would try to dissuade someone if he thought they weren't ready. I feel more than read considering I missed my last 2 kyu grading through injury and other time off. I have to wait another 100 hours before I can do my Dan Grade after the 1 kyu though

This is one thing that has puzzled me about people taking a year or so between kyu grades. Is there a reason why some organisations/clubs/dojos test more sporadically than others?

Cheers

Even for our 5th kyu test (first test in our dojo) you have to have at least 50. For our 4th kyu, you have to have about 90 or so (I have over 200). It goes up from there, but from 1st kyu to shodan, it is at least a year of training. Our dojo doesn't hold tests that often, so if you train regularly, you are going to have way more hours then you need by the time you test. I actually hate testing though, so I like this method myself. Our dojo does have a general technique list that you need to demonstrate during a test, but we actually have two lists floating around.... and he can add or obmit things... so with us, its somewhat set in stone, but not.

~Look into the eyes of your opponent & steal his spirit.
~To be a good martial artist is to be good thief; if you want my knowledge, you must take it from me.

Wow, that's quite some time. Do you train to syllabus as well. I'm not even sure the larger organisations over here train to that extent from 1 grade to the next.

There's a syllabus, yes - and requirements per rank. But we're a small dojo, so what you typically practice in a class doesn't have a lot to do with what's officially listed for your next rank. I don't know what the reasoning is, but I'd say the effect is that rank doesn't really mean much (i.e., doesn't tell you much about what a person can do), and people who care about rank don't stay long. I don't know whether we're better off this way or not...it's an approach, and I don't think there is a perfect one.

It's a good approach & that's very much the same with us apart the time between grades. Although I like progression I have stopped worrying about my grade now and I sat on my 3 kyu for a year. I think the best way to look at your own progression is by going on courses and comparing your standards with people from different organisation of similar rank (or above in some cases) but now we digress and have hijacked the OP's thread!